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What COVID-19 Reveals About Twenty-First Century Capitalism: Adversity and Opportunity

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  • Susan K. Sell

    (Australian National University)

Abstract

Twenty-first century capitalism features financialization and monopoly power. A structural perspective of contemporary political economy illuminates how these aspects shape the COVID-19 response. COVID-19 has exposed failures across health care systems, working conditions, supply chains, the depth of inequality, systemic racism, and features of globalization that exacerbate negative outcomes for the many. Examining access to medicines, personal protective equipment and vaccines, inequality and working conditions highlights just some of what is broken and what needs to be fixed. The unsparing challenge and immiseration of COVID-19 offer an opportunity to re-think basic structures of contemporary capitalism and re-imagine a more compassionate future.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan K. Sell, 2020. "What COVID-19 Reveals About Twenty-First Century Capitalism: Adversity and Opportunity," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 63(2), pages 150-156, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:develp:v:63:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1057_s41301-020-00263-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41301-020-00263-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cao, Wanpeng & Du, Debin & Xia, Qifan, 2023. "Unbalanced global vaccine product trade pattern: A network perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    2. Cornel Ban & Dorothee Bohle & Marek Naczyk, 2022. "A perfect storm: COVID-19 and the reorganisation of the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 101-118, February.
    3. Lorenzo Pratici & Phillip McMinn Singer, 2021. "COVID-19 Vaccination: What Do We Expect for the Future? A Systematic Literature Review of Social Science Publications in the First Year of the Pandemic (2020–2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Matthew Sparke & Owain David Williams, 2022. "Neoliberal disease: COVID-19, co-pathogenesis and global health insecurities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(1), pages 15-32, February.
    5. Giorgos Meramveliotakis & Manolis Manioudis, 2021. "Sustainable Development, COVID-19 and Small Business in Greece: Small Is Not Beautiful," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, September.

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